In this episode of AWESOME People, Iman Huschmand has an intimate chat with the legendary Persian Pop star, Andy Madadian. In this wide ranging and in-depth interview, Andy discusses what his recent star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame means to him, his opinion on the lyrics in today's music, his controversial concert in Saudi Arabia and what he would consider as the pinnacle achievement of his career. SHOW NOTES:Introduction of Andy [1:51]Early life in Iran [4:59]Iman and Andy speak on Voices Out, Andy and his wife’s charity for neglected animals and children [7:36]Receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame [15:02]Dealing with a change in expectations for 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown [20:18]Andy addressees the controversy surrounding his decision to preform at The Music Without Boarders Festival in Saudi Arabia [26:00]Andy is grateful for the opportunities that America is able to provide immigrants [31:33]Banned Music in Iran and hopes for the future of Iranian expression [33:29]The importance of immigrants specifying their nationality in the census [38:39]Andys favorite musicians and thoughts new popular music [41:16]Do for what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life [48:01]Maintaining a healthy married life [50:16]Making the best of the your days during the stay at home order [53:30] QUOTES:“I see the world as a nice place and I trust everything and everybody until it’s proven otherwise.” [4:34]“We are blessed with so many things. Most importantly, obviously, our health, our home, our music and talent we have, these are all blessing and gifts from the god we all know and we think it’s because we’re constantly doing something for others and the more we do, the more luckier we feel and we think life is great because of what we do for others.” [11:20]“I’m a workaholic. I love my work. I wake up in the morning, first of all, I can’t wait to wake up because I want to wake up and do something new, learn something new, accomplish something new.” [15:43]“Musicians and music is beyond politics, we are ambassadors of peace and love and art and culture.” [27:14]“I just want to introduce my music to the west, and the star has given me the opportunity to voice it out.” [38:05]“I think every generation has its own great musicians, it’s just that, as humans, we rely to our memories, nostalgia… When I was listening to, for example, Rod Stewart, that was my first love. So, we connect to those feelings, and we think they were better.” [44:11]“The best thing I can tell anybody is find out what you love to do. Don’t go for the money. Don’t go for riches. They mean nothing if your miserable. You can be the richest most accomplished business wise, and be unhappy. So look for what makes you happy and go learn that craft to be the the best you can be, and do not rival with others, you are your own rival to get better everyday in your own craft, and if you love something you’ll never be working in your life.” [48:30]“Life as we kew is gone, and it will never be the same. So we better adapt to what we have. We have another 24 hours everyday to do something great. So we should embrace that opportunity.” [53:46] FOLLOW IMAN AND ANDY ON IG @imanhuschmand @andymusic1